Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC) has changed hands for the second time in a little more than five years.
Wine industry entrepreneur Jason McConnell acquired the Boonville, California-based craft brewery in a deal that closed Tuesday, former president and CEO Kevin McGee told Brewbound.
The brewery was listed for sale at $7.9 million in September 2024; however, its sale price was not disclosed.
“Jason actually approached me in mid-2024 when he heard a rumor that the brewery might be for sale,” McGee wrote in an email. “He had previously had a winery in the area that did a lot of events and hospitality and was interested in the possibilities that the Beer Park had to offer. He’s a local guy and a good fit and is retaining all the staff, which was really important to us.”
McConnell co-founded Ukiah, California-based Rivino Estate Vineyard and Winery in 2008, and developed the winery into a thriving event venue and destination, which he hopes to repeat with AVBC, he told the San Francisco Chronicle.
AVBC’s 30-acre property includes a “beer park” that contains 10,000 sq. ft. of lawn, an outdoor music stage and an 18-hole disc golf course. The first large-scale event McConnell will oversee is AVBC’s annual beer festival, scheduled for May 10 at the nearby Mendocino County Fairgrounds. More than 60 breweries and cideries are slated to participate, according to the event’s website.
McConnell’s plans for AVBC include adding his Boujee sparkling wine brand and a new sake brand to the brewery’s offerings, he told the Chronicle.
As McConnell takes the helm, McGee said he will offer as much help and advice as is wanted.
“I’m going to be available to Jason to help with the transition and anywhere else I can lend a hand, but it’s his brand now,” he said.
McGee said he is excited to see where McConnell leads AVBC, particularly as a Northern California craft beverage destination, and his family appreciates that McConnell will retain all existing staff members.
“The Beer Park will be fertile ground for his history and passion for event production and hospitality and he’s got everything he needs to be successful there and with the AVBC brand,” McGee said. “The brewery’s been a big part of my family these past years and we’re glad to be passing it along into good hands.”
McGee’s father acquired the brewery in December 2019 without debt or outside investors as a “long-term, multi-generational” play, he told Brewbound at the time. The acquisition was a cash deal with former owner Trey White, who acquired the brewery from its founders in 2010.
The timing of the McGee family’s acquisition of AVBC left much to be desired, as it was just months before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the world, and proved especially difficult for the California craft beer industry due to extended shutdowns and, later, stricter operating procedures.
“Turning around a business is never easy under the best of circumstances and was really challenging in a global pandemic,” McGee told Brewbound. “Last year my father asked me to look into selling the business and we were able to find someone who was a really good fit for the brand and the people there.”
A lawyer by trade, McGee has been an outspoken advocate for the California craft beer industry. He challenged Reyes Beverage Group subsidiaries Harbor Distributing and Golden Brands in court after the country’s largest beer distributor opposed AVBC’s termination of their relationship. A judge sided with AVBC’s parent company Mainsheet Capital in June 2024.
When inflationary headwinds bore down on the beer industry in 2022 and some breweries passed cost increases on to consumers, McGee promised that AVBC would not raise prices for six months.
[Hear more from McGee during a Brewbound Podcast conversation recorded in March 2024 on location at the California Craft Beer Summit, an event hosted by the California Craft Brewers Association, of which McGee is a board member.]
When AVBC was founded in 1987, it was one of just 20 breweries in California, according to its website. The Golden State was home to 987 craft breweries in 2023, ranking it first nationwide, according to the Brewers Association (BA).
AVBC has not published its production data in the BA’s annual report since 2019, when its output was 28,116 barrels of beer, down from a 2015 peak of 50,750 barrels.